


Lightning Crashes

by edgelordjonesthethird



Series: All The Ways I've Loved You [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Daddy Issues, Discussion of Abortion, F/M, Mommy Issues, THEIR PARENTS JUST SUCK OKAY, Unplanned Pregnancy, married bughead, partial miscarriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-03-06 07:56:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18846856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgelordjonesthethird/pseuds/edgelordjonesthethird
Summary: Betty and Jughead hope history doesn't repeat itself.ORBetty and Jughead struggle to come to terms with parenthood.





	1. Part 1: Betty

 

**I**

Her hands are shaking as she stared down a white stick; two pink lines stare back , mocking her. Betty Cooper had always been a planner and a baby certainly wasn’t part of the plan. Not for a few years at least. When she and Jughead were financially stable and certainly not when they were fresh out of college struggling to make rent on their cramped Brooklyn apartment while suffocating in NYU student loan debt. But hey, at least the baby wouldn’t be a bastard if they decided to keep it, they had that going for them to say the least.

Jughead had proposed to her one night after he started his new job at HarperCollins and saw the health insurance package he proposed abruptly over cold sesame noodles to share the wealth because his spouse would also reap those benefits. It was abrupt and not how Betty pictured her marriage proposal but she knew his heart was in the right place with the sentiment. Naturally she accepted, that’s where they were going in life anyway.

The following Saturday the two made their way to City Hall for a quick ceremony before the cut off where Jughead could apply for the insurance with two fellow newly weds as their witnesses. The two celebrated at Jim’s Pub with burgers and ten-dollar buckets of beer. Drunk on their love and Heineken, the two went home where Jughead practically ripped off the white Target sundress she had purchased for the occasion. At least it was cheap. Neither of them dressed themselves until the following Monday when they had to drag themselves into their respective jobs. Betty worried how the story of their proposal and marriage would sound to their unborn child if she decided to ultimately go through with the pregnancy. It wasn’t very romantic, it was more a marriage of practicality. At least the baby would have good health insurance.

Betty heard the front door swing open followed by her husband’s familiarly endearing clunky footsteps. Quickly she shoved the test into her designated bathroom drawer and rinsed her hands in the foamy lavender soap she loved because it was supposed to be good for anxiety but now all it was doing was making her ill. Her stomach lurched and she had to launch herself over the toilet to empty the contents of her stomach; a meager helping of ginger ale and crackers she had forced herself to consume that morning because vomiting nothing but stomach acid was bad for your esophagus.

A bang came from the door. “Betty, it’s Jug, can I come in?” he beckoned, the worry so prominent in his voice she could practically picture the familiar furrow of his brow.

Momentarily she was able to lift her head. “Yeah come in!” She retched and threw her head back into the toilet.

Jughead stepped into the bathroom and immediately gripped her hair, while he used the free hand not being used as a makeshift headband to rub her back. “Let it out, baby, you’re okay.” He soothed.

When she was sure nothing else was going to repeat on her Betty lifted herself into Jughead’s arms. He didn’t seem to care about the vomit on her breath because he pulled her closer and pecked her cheek. “I guess asking how you’re feeling is out of the question.” He teased.

“Not out of the question, but it would be just plain redundant.” Betty shot back with a tired little smile. “How was work?

“Occupational.” Jughead responded before he scooped his betrothed up carefully as not to jostle her and ruin one of his few good shirts. “Let’s get you settled into bed and then I’ll run down to Ben’s and get you some Matzah ball soup.” He insisted.

The mention of food made her stomach twist, but he was being so sweet that she couldn’t refuse and simply nodded; she could choke down some chicken broth for his sake. “That sounds great, I am going to try and nap while you go, okay?” she decided and rested her head on his shoulder until he got her to the bed.

Jughead pulled the sheets back and set Betty into the bed. “Sounds like a good idea.” He agreed and started to move about the room in an attempt to probably find his phone, wallet, and keys.

The familiarity of being in his presence soothed her enough her eyes eventually grew heavy and she fell into a much-needed slumber that seemed to escape her for the past week.

**II**

_Betty stood in a perfectly manicured home; pictures of her in a floral button up with perfectly quaffed haired standing alongside Jughead who now dons a sweater vest, in beside them stand three child; two beautiful blonde girls and a dark-haired boy in the middle which only made Betty smile because they looked to be the perfect mix of her and Jughead._

_A teenager girl soon walked down the steps; her blonde hair is curled and pushed back with a headband with the bluest eyes that Betty had ever seen but when her eyes travelled down she noticed the rounding of her abdomen and her chest felt tight. The girl was clearly fairly far along in a pregnancy. Which only caused Betty to frown and approach the girl._

_“I’m running away mother.” The girl declared, adamantly. “I can’t stay in this house anymore, not with your rules!”_

_“Julia…” This time voice was hers. Julia? Did she know the girl’s name just like that? “It’s really not so bad here, we just want what’s best for you and having baby at your age is not what is best for you or at least ruin the Christmas card!” Betty’s voice disgusted her as the voice came out of her mouth, she didn’t sound like herself, she sounded like Alice. Well, one of the many forms of Alice; there was the biker girl, the cult follower, but this voice sounded like the Alice with the cardigans, the perfectly manicured yard, the seedling of Betty Cooper’s many issues._

_“Don’t worry, I’m leaving, you won’t have to worry about me in the Christmas card!” Julia stomped her foot and made her way to the bright red front door which swung open for the girl was quickly dragged out of the house by two men who could only be orderlies from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy._

_Betty could feel the tears well up in her eyes as she watched the young girl be dragged off; her throat felt tight but the words that came out of her mouth betrayed her. “It’s for the best, Julia!” she called out after her._

_Betty felt her chest constrict and she quickly closed the door and turned to meet the gaze of another teenage girl, not much younger than the first. She looked like the spitting image of Betty in her youth; honey blonde hair, sea foam green eyes, and the tightest ponytail she had ever seen. Everything down to the blood leaking from the palms of her hands, which Betty only chose to ignore. “I thought you would like to know that your son is back down by the skids again probably selling his mouth virginity for some Jingle Jangle and that Dad called from his AIRBNB, he made it there safely.” The girl snarled._

_Betty raised a brow. “Well then I guess it’s just the two of us for dinner.” She grinned. “Why don’t you set table while I work on that?” She suggested, before she took the time to turn and gaze at herself in the mirror to quickly fix her hair but was only greeted by the sight of herself; only she didn’t look like yuppy housewife, there she stood gazing back at herself this time dawning a black hood._

Betty sat bolt upright in the bed, her skin soaked with a thin sheen of cold sweat; she grabbed her chest and panted before she took a quick glimpse of herself in the mirror that hung on the bedroom door adjacent to their bed. She was pale and sick; her hair tied on the top of her head in a messy knot but other than that she looked okay for now. But how long until she started to resemble Alice? Or Hal?

Betty reached over for her phone and punched a number in. “Planned Parenthood, how may I help you?” A woman on the other end answered.

“Hi, my name is Elizabeth Co- Jones and I need to schedule a consult for an abortion.” She sobbed into the phone. “As soon as you have availability.”

**III**

Later that evening Betty stood in the kitchen over the sink inhaling the Matzah ball soup that Jughead had brought home for her earlier; her nausea had ebbed for now and she then she was just ravenous. The front doorbell rang which only caused her to jump and interrupt her hormone-induced smorgasbord; she heard Jughead typing away on his computer in the back which meant he was in the flow of his writing and couldn’t be bothered and she didn’t want him to be. She took the few steps to the front door and swung the door open only to be greeted by the sight of her best friend, the one and only, Veronica Lodge.

Veronica held a grocery bag in perfectly manicured fingers. “Your doting husband called me and told me you were ill!” She cooed. “I came by to give you the Florence Nightingale treatment and don’t take this the wrong way, I can tell I didn’t come a moment too soon.”

Betty rolled her eyes affectionately at the raven-haired princess. “Thanks, V.” She snorted and stepped aside to let the woman in. “Can I get you something, I promise I’m not contagious.”

Veronica raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been puking away day yet you’re not contagious?” She raised a brow and her jaw dropped. “Oh my god, you’re pregnant, I call godmother!”

Betty smacked her hand against Veronica’s mouth. “Keep it down, V, Jughead doesn’t know!” She hushed.

Veronica bounced excitedly. “Oh my god, are you doing a big reveal, can I help?” She squealed and dropped her bag on the table. “Can I help, can I make it extravagant, oh god I can’t wait to start shopping for her.”

Betty rolled her eyes and shook her head. “There might not be a baby anymore.” She sighed and toyed with her hands. “I have an appointment at Planned Parenthood tomorrow to look into my options.”

Veronica’s face fell and she nodded taking Betty’s hands. “Do you want me to go with you, I can go with you and if you decide it’s not what you want that’s okay and if it’s something you do want then you will have the most beautiful spawn of Holden Caufield the world has ever seen.” She insisted as she gave the hands a squeeze.

A third voice entered the mix. “I have an option, why not tell your husband?” Jughead sneered which caused Betty to jump and turn on her heel to meet his grizzled frown. “Or were you just going to wait to tell me after you vacuumed it out or maybe when you were crowning depending on what you decided?”

For once in her life Veronica knew when to keep her mouth shut, Betty knew she would retort when her time came of if Jughead got out of hand, which Betty doubted he would do. But it would be nice to have the back up if some rare occasion came to that

Betty jumped at the intensity of his voice and felt her heart start to race and her chest start to tighten up. “Juggie please it’s not…”

“Save it, Betty, I am going out I need to think.” Jughead grabbed his coat and threw it on before he stomped out the door and startled both girls with a slam. “Don’t come looking for me!”


	2. Jughead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long! But here it is! Chapter 2!

**I**

Jughead didn’t know where to go so he rode the L train up and down the line five times before making his way home to try and attempt to drive off with their car without alerting her. He made the road trip back to Riverdale in record time, reaching his final destination in front of the large iron gates of Thistle House. Jughead didn’t know where else to go. Sure, he’d been in New York for a while, but he didn’t really make many friends like he did back home; just a handful of friendly enough acquaintances he and Betty occasionally had dinner with but never going past pleasantries. His only true ride or die back there was Betty as it been since he was in Pre-K. However, he couldn’t even think of looking at her right now.

He wasn’t angry that she was considering an abortion, because that was her basic human right. He wasn’t even sure if he  _ even was _ angry, but he was definitely hurt. Hurt because she was keeping secrets and secrets had nearly ruined them the last time. Only this time there was so much more to lose this time than when they were teens.

Soon Jughead found himself at the door of Cheryl and Toni’s “humble” abode as Cheryl had put it all those years ago. He needed somebody level-headed to talk to and figured Toni was his best bet since she had the female perspective while also serving as a much needed conscientious objector which Veronica couldn’t provide. Also, his only other option for a confidant would be Archie and well, he’s Archie.

Jughead pounded on the heavy oak door and a baby’s cries echoed, life can be quite blunt towards his current predicament. He looked down at his watch and frowned, he didn’t realize it was ten o’clock at night and they had probably just gotten their baby down. Jason, or Jay as he referred fondly to him as, was their six-month-old son who Toni had given birth too via a sperm donor. The two had been married a year and wasted no time in starting to get their family together. They were currently trying to get him on a sleep schedule because as much as Cheryl loved her son she was losing too much sleep which was bad for her skincare routine as she had so brashly put it at their last double date with Betty and Toni. And when Cheryl was adamant on something Jughead knew it got done, it was one of the few traits that he admired about her.

The door swung open and Toni greeted him wrapped in a flannel robe with well-manicured eyebrows knitted together in annoyance, and her pink locks thrown together on a knot in front of her head. “This better be good Jones!” She snapped. “Between you and the constant phone ringing, the baby keeps waking up!”

Jughead held his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry, Toni, I had nowhere else to go, I can’t even look at Betty right now.”

Toni rolled her eyes. “What, did you two get into a fight about who was more in love with the other or is it actually something serious?” She snapped.

Jughead grimaced at the pixie’s outburst. “Betty’s pregnant.” He blurted out.

Toni’s jaw dropped and she stepped aside. “That is serious.” She confirmed, stepping aside to let him in and hollered up the steps. “Babe, make some tea Jughead is here and it’s serious, also pick up that goddamn phone next time it rings!”

“Tell King Hobo he better have a great explanation for disturbing our beauty rest and for waking up the whole house!” Cheryl called back down with a huff. “How does his intrusion warrant tea!”

Toni gave Jughead an apologetic glance. “He can hear you, babe!” She pointed out.

Jughead could Cheryl stomping around upstairs. “I am making no attempts to hide it!” She snarled. “Give me one good reason to open up our home to him!”

Jughead rubbed the back of his head and took a moment to build up the courage to say it again. “Betty’s pregnant!” He spoke up.

There was a momentary silence. “I will put the water on!” Cheryl finally agreed.

The landline rang once again, and Jason’s cries echoed through the hallways causing Toni to slam her hand against the nearest surface, an end table. “And would you answer that goddamn phone?!”She grumbled.

Jughead shook his head and ran his hands through his hair. “She didn’t tell me, Toni.” He whispered, he sounded defeated. “She’s getting an abortion and she didn’t even tell me she was pregnant, why didn’t she tell me?

Toni rolled her eyes. “I think the real question is why are you here talking to me instead of her?” She admonished. “Think of our past Jughead, when things get hard between Betty you turn to me and it always ends up being more of a problem than doing any good, go talk to your wife.”

Jughead frowned, he hadn’t expected this but maybe that was his fault for expecting a pep talk. But she was right, he needed to talk to simmer down and talk to Betty, their relationship was always better when they talked it out. “You’re right.” He sighed, defeatedly.

“I usually am.” Toni smirked in triumph.

“Why did you make tea if you didn’t want me to stay?” Jughead laughed.

“You hate tea, if I really wanted you to stay, I would have made coffee.” Toni explained, giving him an affectionate pat on the arm.

As Jughead was about to retort the sound of heels echoed down the stairs behind them, he turned and their stood Cheryl in a “blush” dressing gown and a pair of furry red pump slippers;her cheeks were tinged red and she was gasping for air. “Jughead you need to go, it’s Betty, they admitted her to Cedar Sinai.”

**II**

Jughead broke every law of the road on his journey back into the city, he had to see Betty, make sure she was okay. Any bad blood he had coursing through his body towards her was immediately forgotten, though after his stern talking to from Toni there really wasn’t any. He ran through the halls towards the ER waiting room where he found Veronica sitting cross legged, her royal blue dress unusually wrinkled, her hair astray. He rushed over to her and didn’t bother to take a seat, he needed to know where Betty was. He needed to apologize for his outburst.

“Veronica…” His voice cracked, it almost sounded like it was coming from somebody else. “Betty…what happened, is she okay?”

Veronica stood up quickly and for half a moment Jughead was expecting Veronica to slap him but she wrapped him in a firm hug. “Jughead, look, this is something she’s going to have to tell you, she’s in room 512.” She directed.

“Is it that bad?” Jughead choked, his mind was swimming with every negative thing that could have possibly gone wrong. His knees felt like they were going to give out but he had to get them “God, is she going to be okay?”

Veronica looked down at what Jughead assumed was a Louis Vuitton. “Just go talk to her.” She ordered once again. “She’s going to need you.”

**III**

Room 512 was painted bright yellow and Jughead knew it was an attempt to bring up the spirits of its patients, but the view into the psych ward made that a tad elusive. Betty laid in bed; a pink hospital gown contrasted against her pale skin and her hair was out of its usual ponytail, fanned around resembling a halo. She didn’t seem to notice him at first, she was gazing out the window and appeared to be lost in thought. He moved forward and grabbed her hands and squeezed them, her head snapped back around to look at him and she immediately burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, Jughead, I’m so sorry I was going to tell you I swear I-”

Jughead grabbed her face and kissed her tenderly. “No, no, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have run off.” He reassured her. “I just need to know you’re okay, please tell me you’re okay.”

Betty’s bottom lip started to quiver and she leaned her cheek into his palm. “I’m still pregnant but we were going to have twins and now there is only one.” She whispered. “I’m so sorry, I lost one of our babies, I knew I was going to be a terrible mother and this just proves I was before they even came.”

He hadn’t had time to think of if she actually decided to go through with the pregnancy. Would he have the same fears? He hadn’t had the best life and neither did she, but he had also promised her all those years ago that they weren’t their parents and he always thought they could get through anything together. It would make sense that she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. He didn’t even think about how she had been coping to even consider terminating her pregnancy. 

Motherhood had been something she had wanted once upon a time; he still recalled playing house in the tree fort outside with Betty and Archie, they had been the mother and father while Jughead always got tricked into playing the ornery son. How the tables had turned since then.

Jughead leaned his head against hers. “Betty, is that why you were going tomorrow, you thought you would be a terrible mother?” He questioned. “I swear if that’s the only reason then it’s not the case and if you’re just not ready I’ll support you through that too, I will drive you, but please let me be there for you.”

Betty gave him a teary smile. “I had this dream that I turned into my mother and you turned into my father and we had three children and I ruined their lives, I was awful, I don’t want to be awful and I swear I was going to tell you before I made the decision!” She explained. “But then I found out I lost one and I wanted nothing more than to protect the one we have left-“

He cut her off. “You don’t need to explain, it’s your decision and like I said I am here for it.” Jughead kissed her forehead and left his lips to linger.

Betty grabbed his hand and fetched him from his reverie. “What are you thinking, Jug, what’s going on in your head?” she sniffled.

Jughead kissed her knuckles. “I’m terrified, Betty, but as I said earlier I’ll do whatever you want, that’s all I can do to be nothing like my parents.” He confirmed. “But I have to ask, is this going to be safe for you?”

She nodded in agreement. “Yes, the doctor said that these things happen all the time and as long as I take care of myself then everything should go smoothly.” Betty reached over to something on her bedside table and handed it over to Jughead.

It looked like nothing but a gray and black blur to Jughead for a moment, but he knew, a grin threatened to rip his face in half. “Is that…?” He breathed. “Is that our baby?”

Betty dipped her head. “That’s our baby.” She squeezed his hand. “We’re really doing this, huh?”

“We are doing this, but I have one condition, Forsythe or Forsythia is not in his or her names.” He cracked a smile and slid into the bed next to her, holding her close. Jughead felt her laughter ripple through her body and vibrate against him. They were doing this, they were really doing this.

**Author's Note:**

> You know comment and whatnot, do I really have to beg you?


End file.
